|
|
| About
Syria: Government |
|
Country name:
conventional long form: Syrian Arab Republic
conventional short form: Syria
local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah
local short form: Suriyah
Data code:
SY
Capital: Damascus
Administrative
divisions: 14 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah);
Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As
Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims,
Idlib, Rif Dimashq, Tartus
Independence:
17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French
administration)
National holiday:
National Day, 17 April (1946)
Constitution:
13 March 1973
 Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
President:
Dr. Bashar Al Assad
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black
with two small green five-pointed stars in a horizontal
line centered in the white band.
|
| About
Syria: Society |
|
Population:
17,213,871 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 46% (male 4,032,620; female 3,840,431)
15-64 years: 51% (male 4,515,274; female 4,322,415)
65 years and over: 3% (male 246,812; female 256,319)
(1999 est.)
Population growth
rate: 3.15% (1999 est.)
Birth rate:
36.95 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate:
5.4 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female
total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (1999 est.)
Infant mortality
rate: 36.42 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)
Life expectancy
at birth:
total population: 68.09 years
male: 66.75 years
female: 69.48 years (1999 est.)
Total fertility
rate: 5.37 children born/woman (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Syrian(s)
adjective: Syrian
Ethnic groups:
Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
Religions:
Sunni Muslim 74%,
Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects 16%,
Christian (various sects) 10%,
Languages:
Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian
widely understood; French, English also understood
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 70.8%
male: 85.7%
female: 55.8% (1997 est.)
|
| About
Syria: Geography |
|
Location:
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon
and Turkey
Geographic coordinates:
35 00 N, 38 00 E
Map references:
Middle East
Area:
total: 185,180 sq km
land: 184,050 sq km
water: 1,130 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than North Dakota
Land boundaries:
total: 2,253 km
Coastline:
193 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 41 nm
territorial sea: 35 nm
Climate: mostly
desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild,
rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather
with snow or sleet periodically hitting Damascus
Terrain: primarily
semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains
in west
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias
-200 m
highest point: Mount Hermon 2,814 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt,
iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum
Land use:
arable land: 28%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 43%
forests and woodland: 3%
other: 22% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land:
9,060 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards:
dust storms, sandstorms
Environment - current
issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification;
water pollution from dumping of raw sewage and wastes from
petroleum refining; inadequate supplies of potable water
Environment - international
agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
|
| About
Syria: History |
|
The actual events of SYRIA can be summarized from the beginnings
of agriculture which started round about 12000 years ago,
and the first glimmerings of a distinctive “SYRIAN CULTURE”
which goes back to the early bronze age, sumerians, Akkadians,
Phoenicians, Aramaeans, Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians,
and Persians, all have left steps behind to record their
vectories and civilizations.
In the wake of Sargon’s campaigns came the Amorites, then
the Babylon, Canaanites were another Semitic peoples associated
with SYRIA soon after 2000 BC, settled on the coastal strip
and their language was probably the first to be written
using a system of individual letters rather than words or
syllables (cuneiform scripts).
The Aramaic States of SYRIA, however, were extinguished by the resurgent
new Assyrian Empire after 900 BC. After the collapse of
the Persian Empire, SYRIA had been ruled by Greeks, Romans
and Byzantines Empires, then it felt under the ARABS, SYRIA
therefore become the center of a new world and the leading
torchbearer of civilization, with Damascus as its capital
under the Umayyad dynasty of caliphs.
Abbasids, Hamadanids and Ottoman Turkey who also ruled SYRIA in the
modern period.
In the beginning of 20th century and at the end of the
first world war, the Ottoman Empire had been defeated by
the French and British mandates, however the French entered
SYRIA in 1920 and terminated in 1945 when SYRIA regained
its political independence and Damascus become the capital
of SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC.
|
| About
Syria: Economy |
| GDP: purchasing
power parity - $41.7 billion (1998 est.)
GDP - real growth
rate: 2% (1998 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,500 (1998 est.)
GDP - composition
by sector:
agriculture: 26%
industry: 21%
services: 53% (1997)
Population below
poverty line: 15%-25%
Household income
or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate
(consumer prices): 15%-20% (1997 est.)
Labor force:
4.7 million (1998 est.)
Labor force - by
occupation: services 40%, agriculture 40%, industry
20% (1996 est.)
Unemployment rate:
12%-15% (1998 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $3.5 billion
expenditures: $4.2 billion, including capital expenditures
of $NA (1997 est.)
Industries:
petroleum, textiles, food processing, beverages, tobacco,
phosphate rock mining
Industrial production
growth rate: 0.2% (1996 est.)
Electricity - production:
19.3 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity - production
by source:
fossil fuel: 63.73%
hydro: 36.27%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1996)
Electricity - consumption:
19.3 billion kWh (1996)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1996)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (1996)
Agriculture - products:
wheat, barley, cotton, lentils, chickpeas, olives, sugar
beets; beef, mutton, eggs, poultry, milk
Exports: $4.2
billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)
Exports - commodities:
petroleum 65%, textiles 16%, food and live animals 13%,
manufactures 6% (1997 est.)
Exports - partners:
Italy 18%, Germany 13%, France 12%, Turkey 10%, Lebanon
7%, Spain 6% (1997 est.)
Imports: $5.7
billion (c.i.f., 1997)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment 40%, foodstuffs/animals 15%, metal
and metal products 15%, textiles 10%, chemicals 10%, consumer
goods 5% (1997 est.)
Imports - partners:
Ukraine 14%, Italy 7%, Germany 6%, Turkey 5%, France 4%,
South Korea 4%, Japan 4%, US 3% (1997 est.)
Economic aid -
recipient: $327.3 million (1995)
Currency: 1
Syrian pound (£S) = 100 piastres
Exchange rates:
Syrian pounds (£S) per US$1 - 46
Fiscal year:
calendar year
|
|
